Stuck on You

Chapter 6: Sex Sells

Around my third week in California, I ended up switching my major to psychology. English Lit was too wide of a career starter. Our gig with the tango was approaching fast. Lana never warmed up to me, and it got to the point where I just didn’t care anymore. Finally, our costumes arrived. Luca handed each of us a hanging bag with a hanger already inside. I took my bag excitedly and took out my costume. I held up the hanger and my eyes widened. It was basically a silver costume with sparkly fringe all over it. It was a one shouldered dress with a clear strap on the other side. There was a huge cut-out on the side that continued into the back. The fabric started again right where my butt started. The fringe cascaded down in a diagonal at the bottom of the dress. There was barely any fabric at all. I sighed mentally. The basic flow line at the top of the dress meant that my boobs were going to be bouncing all over the place. It also meant that I couldn’t wear a sports bra.

“Where’s the rest of it?” I asked. Hayden only chuckled.

“We want you to look sexy. We don’t want you to look like you’re on your way to Sunday service. Sex sells,” Hayden said with a smug expression. I could see his eyes just screaming ‘goodie two shoes’. I rolled my eyes and tried to think quickly on my feet.

“I was talking about shoes, moron,” I countered. I mentally took a sigh of relief when Luca jumped in on my comment.

“Girls, you guys are wearing little dance slips. You know the ones that slip over your toes and just cover the ball of your feet. I ordered sparkling ones to match the dresses,” Luca explained. I held my tongue and just nodded. We were each instructed to try them on to make sure they fit. Quinn’s was the same exact costume as mine, except it was blue. Lana’s was red. They were crazy sexy.

“They should try them on; to make sure that they fit properly,” Hayden suggested. I only glared back at him. “We need to get used to the girls in it anyway,” he joked. Long story short, we ended up having to try them on. We all stepped out and looked at each other before we looked at the guys. They were so quite, you could hear crickets.

“Hayden, what do you think?” Lana asked rolling her hips and turning a slow circle. Hayden wasn’t even paying attention to her. His eyes were on me.

“You guys- or sorry- you girls look great in those costumes! This is going to be a huge hit,” Luca said excitedly. Jason smiled along with Luca as they just looked at us. Hayden’s eyes were still trained on me. I was trying to ignore him but it was hard with him pretty much drooling.

“Hayden!” Lana yelled. He snapped out of it, as I offered him a hand. “We’re running the dance in our costumes. He gave Lana a half smile and pushed himself up off of the couch. He squeezed my butt as he passed me. I wacked his back. He only laughed. Luca put Hayden and I in the middle because we never did the routine he exact same every time and he liked that. He didn’t care as long as it was as spicy as the first time we did it. We ran through the routine in our costumes. At the end, my body was pressed firmly against his. I was breathing heavily and so was Hayden. His eyes flickered down to my cleavage and the corner of his lip pulled up into a half smile. He reached down to kiss me but I pushed him back. I started walking away but Hayden grabbed me around my waist.

“Hayden!” I yelled. He laughed and kissed my neck.

“What? All of the sudden you reject my kisses?” he muttered near my ear. I tried to push out of his grasp but I couldn’t.

“Stop it, you’re going to rip this poor excuse for a dress,” I laughed. He chuckled.

“I sure hope so,” he said back.

“You’re such a pig!” I laughed. I was getting too comfortable around him. The other girls went to go get changed. Hayden kissed the side of my head before he let me go. I went and changed back into my yoga pants and floral crop top. I walked out with my bag and sat on the couch. The others were just hanging around as well.

“I’m feeling like a swim. Is anyone else up for heading to the beach?” Luca asked. I smiled and raised my hand. Hayden walked over and plopped down on my lap. I groaned and tried to push him off.

“You’ve got to stop doing that,” I said finally getting him off. He offered a hand to me and I took it.

“We’re going to go grab our swim gear; we’ll be back,” Hayden said. He pushed my hips as we were walking. I slapped him hand away, but he just put it right back. After going back to the apartment and changing, we went back to the warehouse. The others were dressed and ready to go. We walked down to the beach and hung out down there for a while. I wasn’t going to even try swimming far out in the ocean. I stayed in the white wash waves and played with the boogie board. The boys were playing a game of volleyball. Lana was lying out in the sun.

“Jojo!” Quinn called. I walked back onto the beach towards her. “Back flips or one man?” she asked excitedly. I laughed and went for the obvious one.

“One mans,” I said. She smiled and turned. I put my hands on her hips and counted off before I tossed her in the air easily. I bumped her up and she pulled a heel stretch and then a bow-n-arrow. I smiled as I watched her feet. I counted off again before we did a pop off. I set her on the sand and she turned to me excitedly. She loved stunting and I knew it.

“Let’s go play with the guys,” Quinn suggested. We jogged over to the guys and Hayden smirked at us.

“Want to play girls versus guys?” Luca suggested. Quinn nodded excitedly.

“Lana!” Jason yelled over to her. “We need you to play on the girls team!”

She pulled her sunglasses off and strolled over to our game. She stood in the back corner. I was against the net and Quinn was positioned on the other side in the middle. Our volleyball game was going well until it was Lana’s turn to serve. She spiked the ball and it hit me right in the back of the head. I turned and glared at her. She smiled smugly and shrugged.

“My bad,” she said. I let out a breath before I turned back around. She did it again. I snapped around and stormed over to her.

“What is your problem?!” I yelled. She glared back at me.

“You’re my problem!” she snapped back. I felt an arm restraining me as I started for her.

“I haven’t done anything to you!” I yelled.

“You stole my boyfriend,” she said. Everyone stopped and looked at her confused.

“I’m sorry?” I asked for clarification. Her eyes flickered over to the person holding me back. It was Hayden. I looked at him curiously. He looked confused.

“We’ve messed around a few times but I’ve never been your boyfriend. I’m not anyone’s boyfriend. I never played that role… ever,” he practically seethed. “I’m leaving,” he muttered. He grabbed my wrist and started pulling me along back to his truck.

A visual representation of the dance costumes can be seen in media.